Count Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as among those with increasing optimism about the NBA’s potential return.
The 2019-20 season has been on hiatus since March 12 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but restrictions around much of the United States are being gradually loosened. With stay-at-home orders lifted in most locations, including in Texas, the Rockets reopened the doors of Toyota Center this week for individual player workouts.
In a Tuesday afternoon interview with CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Fertitta was asked about the season’s current status. He responded:
We feel very comfortable, as long as the experts continue to say things are getting better in America. The players want to play. As long as this doesn’t continue to grow and continues to go the other way, with the virus, I see the NBA playing. Everyone wants to play. America wants to see the NBA play. And I look forward to us playing games later this summer and playing some regular-season games, and of course having an NBA champion, like the Houston Rockets.
Houston Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta weighs in on the future of the @NBA.@TilmanJFertitta @HoustonRockets pic.twitter.com/93jMeWlsiY
— Power Lunch (@PowerLunch) May 19, 2020
[lawrence-related id=29938,29924]
Led by former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook, Fertitta’s Rockets would be the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, if the league advanced straight to the postseason. However, the prospect of playing regular-season games — which would also help the NBA fulfill its contract to television partners — could give the Rockets (40-24) an opportunity to move up in the West standings before then.
Houston is only one game behind Utah (41-23) for the No. 4 seed, and the Rockets hold the tiebreaker. That said, because any league restart is expected to occur at a neutral location and without fans, the usual advantage of a higher seed may not be applicable to the 2020 playoffs.
Among NBA return-to-play scenarios being discussed, league sources say, is a template calling for teams to conduct Training Camp 2.0 in their own practice facilities before heading to one or two centralized sites to resume play, with Orlando and Las Vegas still vying for games
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 19, 2020
The next step toward a return to play is likely advancing from individual workouts to traditional group practices. The exact timetable for that is not set, though The Ringer reports that the NBA wants its players back in their usual cities by early to mid June to potentially start training camps.
[lawrence-related id=30216]